HomeMy WebLinkAboutCARRIAGE HOUSE APARTMENTS - MOD - MOD120001 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - MODIFICATION REQUESTdemands of the university. Therefore, the scale and density of the proposed plan reflect
that housing type. (Map 3)
• The WCNP recommends that higher density uses such as the proposed Carriage House
Apartment Homes development be located next to the CSU Main Campus. (Policy F7)
• The WCNP encourages redevelopment within this area of the neighborhood, as the
existing single family homes are being converted to multi -family uses in order to meet
the demand of student housing (HO 4).
• The WCNP specifically contemplates the subject property as a buffer area that can be
made up of small-scale apartment buildings. (Future Housing Needs (B)).
• The WCNP encourages the height of student housing complexes built adjacent to the
CSU Main Campus to exceed 3 stories (Housing Design (B)).
Granting the Modification of Standards is not detrimental to the public good and advances a
use by right in the Neighborhood Conservation Buffer (NCB) zoning; to the contrary, the
proposed project substantially benefits the City by reason of the fact that it substantially
addresses important community needs that are specifically and expressly defined and described
as policy considerations in the Transit -Oriented Development Overlay Zone (TOD), City Plan and
the West Central Neighborhood Plan (WCNP) all as directly applicable to the project site.
• Policy LIV 5.1— Encourage Targeted Redevelopment and Infill —The project will
concentrate higher density housing in a location that is currently served by high
frequency transit and can thus support higher levels of activity.
• Policy LIV 6.1—Types of Infill and Redevelopment in Residential Areas —The project will
provide new multi -family residential dwellings through the expansion or redevelopment
of an under-utilized parcel surrounded by existing residential development.
• Policy LIV 7.2 — Develop an Adequate Supply of Housing — The City is encouraging private
sectors to take actions to develop and maintain an adequate supply of multi -family
dwellings necessary to serve the growth patterns of CSU.
• Policy LIV 7.4—Maximize Land for Residential Development — The proposed
development will maximize the potential of the subject property for housing, thereby
positively influencing housing affordability.
• Policy LIV 7.7 — Accommodate the Student Population —The project will serve to provide
new housing for the burgeoning student body at the southwest corner of the campus
immediately across Shields Street that is well served by public transportation.
• Policy LIV 10.1— Incorporate Street Trees —The proposed site plan will serve to preserve
the majority of the existing _16 crabapple trees along the Springfield frontage.
• Policy LIV 22.1— Vary Housing Models and Types — The proposed plan for five separate
buildings will allow for variation in exterior materials, color, articulation and avoid the
appearance of monotonous, standardized community.
• Policy LIV 22.2 Creativity —The Carriage House Apartment Home community will be
comprised of smaller buildings that are typically associated with single family homes.
• Policy LIV 43.3 — Support Transit -Supportive Development Patterns —The proposed plan
is located in the Transit -Oriented Development Overlay Zone. The density associated
with the proposed plan will support walking, biking and transit use while minimizing the
reliance upon automobiles.
• Policy T3.4—Travel Demand Mangement—The proposed plan will minimize automobile
dependence and maximize the choices among other modes of local and regional travel.
• Figure P-4 - Pedestrian Priority Areas — The subject property is located within the
Downtown/CSU Pedestrian District.
Additionally, the proposed project substantially addresses specifically and expressly defined
and described policies outlined in the West Central Neighborhood Plan (WCNP) including the
following principals:
• The WCNP was adopted in March of 1999. The plan identifies the subject property as a
Redevelopment Area.(Map 2) '
• The WCNP Land Use and Housing Densities Plan identifies the subject property as
Neighborhood Conservation Buffer (NCB) zoning acting as a buffer between the older,
single family residences and the more intense uses of the Campus District and HMN
zoning on the immediate east side of Shields Street. (Map 3)
• The WCNP identified this specific area as predominantly rental properties catering to
university students and recognized that this area is growing to meet the housing
the 2010 City Plan places an emphasis on new multi -family residential buildings that have
variation to the exterior to avoid monotony and are situated to face the street, as is the case
with the proposed plan. The West Central Neighborhoods Plan — Housing Policies also stresses
attached dwelling unit buildings to be designed to a scale appropriate to their surroundings
(F4). Rather than designing the typical large building, the proposed plan contemplates five
smaller buildings.
The result is that the proposed site plan is tailored to developing smaller, separate buildings
rather than a more typical large building. Thus, the placement, size and quantity of buildings
contemplated in the proposed Carriage House Apartments site plan is the result of addressing
and conforming to the City's stated objectives.
III. Mitigation scenarios to develop around the 1305 S. Shields St. residence have been explored
by the applicant, to no avail. The 1305 S. Shields residence has been a rental for a number of
years. It is rapidly reaching the end of its functional life due to deterioration and deferred
maintenance. Further, the home is woefully inadequate with respect to the energy efficiency,
basic insulation values and water saving features that are required in the current City code.
The applicant doesn't acknowledge any historic character to the 1305 S. Shields property, and
therefore can find no sound reason to retain it.
IV. 2.8.2 Modification Review Procedureshttp://www.colocode.com/ftcollins/landuse/article2.htm -
top
(H) Step S (Standards): Applicable, and the decision maker may grant a modification of
standards only if it finds that the granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the
public good, and that:
(2) the granting of a modification from the strict application of any standard would, without
impairing the intent and purpose of this Land Use Code, substantially alleviate an existing,
defined and described problem of city-wide concern or would result in a substantial benefit to
the city by reason of the fact that the proposed project would substantially address an
important community need specifically and expressly defined and described in the city's
Comprehensive Plan or in an adopted policy, ordinance or resolution of the City Council, and
the strict application of such a standard would render the project practically infeasible;
The City Plan specifically and expressly defines and describes the following policies that support
the proposed project:
• Policy EH 4.1 Prioritize Targeted Redevelopment Areas —The Targeted Infill and
Redevelopment Areas (depicted in LIV1) encompass the subject property.
I. Modification of Standards 3.4.7 Historic and Cultural Resources
(B) General Standard. If the project contains a site, structure or object that (1) is determined to
be individually eligible for local landmark designation or for individual listing in the State or
National Registers of Historic Places; (2) is officially designated as a local or state landmark, or is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places; or (3) is located within an officially designated
historic district or area, then to the maximum extent feasible, the development plan and
building design shall provide for the preservation and adaptive use of the historic structure. The
development plan and building design shall protect and enhance the historical and architectural
value of any historic property that is: (a) preserved and adaptively used on the development
site; or (b) is located on property adjacent to the development site and qualifies under (1), (2)
or (3) above. New structures must be compatible with the historic character of any such historic
property, whether on the development site or adjacent thereto.
(E) Relocation or Demolition. A site, structure or object that is determined to be individually
eligible for local landmark designation or for individual listing in the State or National Registers
of Historic Places may be relocated or demolished only if, in the opinion of the decision maker,
the applicant has, to the maximum extent feasible, attempted to preserve the site, structure or
object in accordance with the standards of this Section, and the preservation of the site,
structure or object is not feasible.
II. Full Compliance —The proposed Overlay Plan, (Exhibit PDP2) depicts the relationship with the
1305 S. Shields Street house with the proposed site plan for Carriage House Apartments. As
indicated, if the house is preserved, two of the proposed buildings (#3 + #4) would not be
developable. The loss of two buildings represents 40% of the project. Considerable economies
of development, construction and operations are lost with a 40% reduction in volume which
would jeopardize the viability of the project. Further, the Owner has a contract to sell the
entire 1.15 acre parcel. The contract does not contemplate purchasing just the back portion of
the subject property.
Ill. Proposed Site Plan —The proposed Site Plan, (Exhibit PDP3) contemplatesfive (5) separate
buildings. Each of the buildings shall be designed to look more like single family houses than
typical apartment buildings with the inclusion of porches, orientation of the building to the
street, a consolidation of most of the access to the back of the building and extensive
articulation on the exterior. The NCB zoning requires that the buildings be located
predominantly on the front half of the site. The subject property is rectangular in shape making
the frontage facing the 335' along Springfield Street. The NCB zoning imposes a Floor Area
Ratio (FAR) restriction that minimizes the amount of building area in the back half of the site to
just 0.33 of the total land area. In the case of the subject property, only 21,610square feet can
be built on the back half of the site. The net result is that in order to optimize the site plan as
required in NCB zoning, the bulk of the buildings must be on the front half of the site. Further,
lack of architectural integrity and the multiple additions that have been made to the property
over the years. The LPC determined that there was no resolution and therefore voted to refer
the development proposal to a Final Hearing at a later date as a result of a Preliminary Hearing
on December 14, 2011 for the property.
The owner and developer are submitting this Modification of Standards to request a
determination from the Decision Maker that Section 3.4.7. is inapplicable to the proposed
project at an earlier stage in the process. Otherwise, the City, the developer and the landowner
will expend considerable planning resources and time making and evaluating a traditional
Project Development Plan submittal with the critical issue of whether, in the opinion of the
Decision Maker, the proposed project may proceed under the Land Use Code with the
demolition of 1305 S. Shields Street still undecided.
Section 3.4.7.(C) provides that individual eligibility for local landmark designation is made in
accordance with Chapter 14 of the City Code. Over the express objection of the landowner, the
Landmark Preservation Commission has determined that 1305 S. Shields Street is individually
eligible for landmark designation. The developer and owner disagree with this determination of
eligibility and seek only a final determination as to the historic significance of this property. The
question is simple: Does the Decision Maker wish to make an official landmark designation over
the objection of and without owner consent?
To obtain a final resolution to this important question, the developer requested an opportunity
to bring before the Decision Maker the question as to whether 1305 S. Shields Street should be
designated an official landmark under Chapter 14, Article II (Designation Procedure). The
director denied the developer an opportunity to submit to this critical question to the Decision
Maker for a final determination of whether 1305 S. Shields Street should be designated an
official landmark. The director refused this request on the basis that Chapter 14, Article IV
(Demolition or Relocation of Historic Structures Not Designated as Fort Collins Landmarks or
Located in a Fort Collins Landmark District) is still applicable even after the property is
determined not worthy of official landmark designation. Remarkably, the director concludes
that the property is still individually eligible for landmark designation, and thus subject to
Chapter 14, Article IV of the Municipal Code, even after the Decision Maker concludes that the
property should not be designated an official landmark. In other words, the property retains
the status of individually eligible for local landmark designation notwithstanding a previous
determination by the Decision Maker not to make an official landmark designation.
The director suggested a Modification of Standards to Section 3.4.7. as the correct procedure to
submit to the Decision Maker the demolition of 1305 S. Shields Street.
Modification of Standards Request
Carriage House Apartments
1305 & 1319 S. Shields Street
Fort Collins, CO
Background
Catamount Properties, Ltd. and Ms. Bev Carlson of Carlson Residential, LLC have entered an
agreement to redevelop the 1305 S. Shields Street site to accommodate four multi -housing
buildings each comprising approximately 6,600 square feet of floor area. The existing residence
is a two story building comprised of a 1,440 square foot, two bedroom, two bath rental
constructed in 1921 along with a second, 900 square foot single family residence which was
formerly a chicken coop that is also located on the same site. The land area comprising this
subject property including the Chicken Coop residence is 50,294 square feet or approximately
1.15 acres. The developer has also assembled an adjacent 14,534 square foot property with a
single-family residence approximating 1,544 square feet known as 1319 S. Shields Street and
owned by Laura and Sean Fagan. Together with the Carlson property, the combined site is to
be known as the Carriage House Apartment site and shall comprise 64,829 square feet of gross
land area and approximately 36,300 gross square feet of floor area with five proposed
residential buildings and 52 private parking spaces. Presently, 6 people reside on this same
property which abuts Shields and is at the southwest corner of the CSU campus. The specific
quantity of homes contemplated isn't yet defined depending upon the mix of one, two or three
bedroom homes. The range would likely be between 30 homes on the low side (more larger
homes) to 50 on the high side (more smaller homes).
The property is zoned Neighborhood Conservation Buffer (NCB) which accommodates 3 story
multi -family residential dwellings as a use by right. The property is also in a Transit -Oriented
Development (TOD) Overlay Zonewhich provides incentives for higher density development
including no minimum parking requirements.
A development proposal was submitted to the City Planning Department and was the subject of
a Concept Review on September of 2011. The developer proposes to demolish all of the
structures to make room for the proposed site plan. The Landmark Preservation Commission
(LPC) has determined that the home at 1305 S. Shields Street is eligible for designation as a
Historic Landmark. On the contrary, the landowner does not concur with this designation and
has presented to the LPC and the City Planning Department a letter from Mr. James Bershof of
Oz Architects declaring that the subject property is not eligible for historic protection due to a